Lately

So it seems like I am a slacker again with my posting. Things have been VERY busy, and while I am doing well balancing the important things, the less important things (blogging) have been pushed back. So, no here I am again, backdating my postings so they are on the date they actually happened pretending that I am a good little blogger hehe. So while the posts past this may look old, I am going through and posting them now. Take a look at what I have been up to!



Since Thanksgiving was two days ago, I will have to start with that. We had a small Thanksgiving this year, with just myself, Mom and Rod, and Tyler and Anne. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, just a usual Thanksgiving dinner with family. We did however play Phase 10 and Mom managed to only actually attack someone once (me, unfortunately) although she did come close to physical contact with Tyler hehe. Only my Mom can turn Phase 10 into a contact sport.



I have a lot to be Thankful for this year. I feel very blessed to be where I am in life right now and owe it to a lot of people. I would like to especially mention my friends Desi, Milan, and Sam. All three of them have helped me in ways they may never know, kept picking me back up when I was falling. Desiree is my all time BEST friend. This woman is amazing, of all the crap I have shared with her, she doesn't judge me one single bit. I have NEVER felt inadequate or inferior around her, she has truly helped me keep my sanity. I will be friends with this woman forever! I cannot count the late night talks we've had, the tears we have shared, or the stories we share with each other. She is my perfect confidant!



Milan is the goofball! No matter how miserable of a mood I am in, I cannot be around Milan for more than 10 minutes without laughing. He has helped my laugh through many hard days and realize that things are never as bad as they seem. I don't think I could ever keep a serious face around him. :) See? I smile just thinking about it hehe.



Sam is my talk it through guy! We have spent many nights up til 1 or 2 in the morning just talking about life and hashing stuff out. He has helped me put many things in perspective and has a lot of powerful insight that has helped me gain perspective in many different areas of my life. I know that whatever I have going on, I can talk to him about it, and he will have some amazing advice, or spiritual knowledge to help me improve the situation.



These three people have been my biggest influences and examples this last year. They have offered me so much, and I am truly a better person because they are in my life. Thank you guys for keeping me headed in the right direction! There have also been many others that have helped me in SO many ways, but I don't think I will start mentioning names so as not to forget anybody. I am just SO grateful for all the AWESOME people around me.

Me, Desi, Sam, and Milan :)

The Ladies

I have to take a moment and tell you about 'The Ladies'. I am not sure how this came about, but the group of ladies consists of myself, and my friends Desi and Milan, yes Milan, in case you didn't catch on Milan is a BOY, but for all intensive purposes, he is a lady... Hmm... I know one day me and Desi were going on Ladies Night and we were talking to Milan, and I don't know if we invited him, or if he invited himself, but Milan came along on Ladies Night and ever since then, he has been a part of it. (Previously when the three of us hung out it was called 'Mormon Date' get it? 2 girls 1 guy? hehe) So, we call ourselves the Ladies when we are together, Ladies Nights, Ladies days, or just hanging out in general. It is FUN! So, here is my mini-tribute to 'The Ladies'... I love you both! Here are to many ladies nights yet to come, and those that have past! :)

Tylers Wedding

Tyler got married on Friday the 13th hehe. His wife is Anne, and I just LOVE her! They make an awesome couple, and I am happy to have her as part of the family. Their wedding was wonderful, and it was fun to have all the family together. Jenna came up for the wedding and she stayed at my place before the wedding then with Mom after that until she went home. Anyway here are some pictures... There are SO many, I have a lot more posted on facebook, check 'em out there :).

Here come the bride

The Bride and Groom

The whole family, Jenna, Rod, Reilly, Tyler Anne, Mom and Moi :)

The siblings

I LOVE this picture! Reillys first snowstorm!

Withes Weekend

I have been getting to know people up here in Midvale after moving, and trying to find my niche in my new ward. I have gotten to know a few people a bit, and was excited when a girl I had met in my ward, Ellie, texted me and asked me if I wanted to go to Withes Weekend at Gardner Village. Of course I said YES! (As anti-Halloween as I am, I thought it would be fun...) We all got together at Ellies apartment and got our witch costumes together and got ready to head out. The best part of the night was dressing up. :) We got to Gardner Village, and that place was PACKED! There were crowds and crowds of witches! It was definitely crazy! So, we were there probably less than an hour before we got sick of the crowd and decided to go get ice cream, (which is ALWAYS a fail safe plan). So, all dressed up, we took off to cold stone, got some tasty ice cream and headed back to Ellies where we watched a witch movie, whose name I cannot remember for the life of me... Oh well, maybe I will remember later... Anyway, it was a fun night, and a GREAT way for me to meet new people!

All the witches, aren't we adorable!

Ellie and Patty in the front seat of the van :)

The back seat, Me, Amber, a girl whose name I can' remember, and Katie :)

At Ellies apartment, all ready to go!



Yours truly!

Trip to Arizona

I went to see Jenna for her birthday in Sierra Vista, Arizona. It was a lot of fun to see her and Reilly and spend the weekend with them. We had a LOT of fun. It was very reminiscent for me being back on an Army post again. We hung out with a bunch of her soldier friends, and I fit right in. It really felt like home and that I belonged there. I got home sick for the Army which I thought would NEVER happen, but hey, it is what it is. Anyway, we went to Tombstone and got old time pictures taken, and went shopping, and to dinner, and just had a blast hanging out. I am going back for Christmas and cannot wait to spend time with my sister again! We have gotten so close the past few years and I really love that we are finally developing that close relationship! I am going out there for Christmas too and cannot wait to see her again! :)

Me and my Seester!

Reilly giving me a kiss :)

Jenna teaching me how to do the 'Paris Hilton Pout' hehe

So, here I am!

I am finally settled in in my new place in Midvale! I LOVE it! The only thing I wish that could be different is that all my friends are still in Orem! (Except for Sam, who lives not to far away, YAY!) Can I just say how much I LOVE it here! It takes me 15 minutes to drive to work instead of 50, and it is so close to everything! I really really REALLY just love how close I am to work, it saves me so much time in the morning and at night. It really just makes the whole hassle of moving worth while. YAY! My new apartment is great, even though it is on the third floor. Me and Tyler (my brother) had the HARDEST time getting my couches up the stairs and in the door, it was almost a disaster! WHEW! So anyway, I just had to get my excitement out about my new place... :)

Guess What? I'm Moving! AGAIN!

Yup, that's right! I am moving! The timing is right, the getting is good, and I am outta here!!! "Where are you moving to?" you may ask... I am moving to a far away land known as Midvale, Utah. "But why?" you may wonder... Well for many reasons.... Lets tell a story!

When I moved here to Utah, a lot of factors led me to where I lived first, in Orem, not too far from where I live now. To make a long story short, it was right. Then the job I had lined up fell through and I ended up getting a position in Salt Lake City. The drive is almost an hour every day each way, but I did it, for almost a year now, because it was worth it. I love where I work, and I love where I live. Then I moved in with Desi to cut my rent down, and life is great. Pretty cheap rent, live with my best friend etc etc etc... Still making the LONG commute. I was set on moving closer to work sometime in the Summer/Fall 2010. (The long drive would only make sense for so long, gas costs SO much!)

Well, after a crazy series of events, I decided to move sooner (this was about a month ago). the stars aligned and I found this PERFECT place just off the I-215 in Midvale just 15 minutes from work! Then, BAM about two weeks after I decided to move, Desi gets engaged, and it turns out I would have been kicked out in November-ish anyway! (Just kidding, she wouldn't have kicked me out, but lets be real here....) Hehehe, I love it when stuff works out like this. So, to make a long story short, I am moving because it is the right thing for me to do right now!

I have a one bedroom one bath place that is very roomy! The rent is a very good price, and I will have plenty of storage space so I will not longer have to rent extra space! I am very excited to move, and cannot wait for the short commute and the adventure of living somewhere new and starting over... again... (Seems like I move a lot huh? The Army made it normal for me I think :))

However, I am sad to leave... I have an amazing ward with even more amazing people! My new ward has a lot to live up to! Plus, I am really going to miss mine and Desi's late night talks and seeing her every day! We have had some wonderful moments and grown extremely close since I moved in. But despite all that... it is time. It is only about 30 minutes from where I live now, so I will still be able to see all the people I love here as often as I want...

So, yes, let the crazy begin! I am moving Friday and Saturday and have only packed three boxes so far! I have LOTS of work to do!!! Have at it!

Work Party!

Yesterday I went to a party/potluck with the people I work with. Once a year, Leonard (my team lead) has this end of summer bash at his house up in Mountain Green. I was excited to go because I have heard a lot of fun stories about this thing, and being my first year working at L-3 it was my first time. Everybody that works at the service desk (and a few others from the networking team) came up with their families and significant others. Since my relationship status is currently single, I brought Desi (my hott date) :). When we got there, I realized that everything that everyone had been saying about Leonard's property was true! He has thing HUGE cabin house, on a LOT of land with a pond (with SO MANY fish) and an out building and everything! It was so nice... Most the men had their fishing poles out on the pond trying to catch some fish, and the kids were in the canoe having a grand old time. It was so much fun to meet everybodys families!

After dinner we had a hard core volleyball tournament. IT was pretty intense! Ten of us played, and we all did pretty good. We kept kitting the ball down the hill, and usually we could holler down quick enough that someone could catch it before it went into the pond, but once it rolled right in, right before my serve hehe, it was fun! The game was crazy, we played three games, and my team won two of them. I brought my camera, but forgot to take pictures... no fun!

All in all it was a fun night. Desi and I both had a great time! I feel so lucky to be able to work with such wonderful people! We all generally get along, and laugh and joke about anything and everything. I have such an awesome job and a great team! I cannot wait until next years end of summer bash!

Sticky Legs

Funny story! Today, I was mowing the lawn... and about a quarter of the grass is dead, and there are lots of dusty spots where the grass is almost no grass... So, I really must have slapped a lot of lotion on my legs this morning cause by the time I got done, this is what my legs looked like. Hehehe, I just had to take a picture, so funny! My favorite is where the flip flop lines are. :) Just a random thought...

OK, So...

Once again, I have been one shameful blogger... I just looked at my blog and realized that is has been three months since my last post! The whole summer has gone by! My goodness. When I was married, I did so well keeping my blog up to date, two or three times a month at least. I don't know what it is about being single that makes me slack off so much... Anyway, here are a bunch of new posts, I am going to back date them, so it will seem like they are older posts, but yeah... have fun! I guess I should try to keep up now so I don't get stuck like this again :). I printed my blog off (for 2008) a bit ago like many of you have already, and I love it! I ordered a copy for my Mom, and it is so much fun to have that physical record too. The link to the site is http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html if any of you want to do it too!

Now I'm done :) Off to mow the lawn!!!

<3

Weddings and Engagements

On the first of August, I had an amazing opprotunity to attend a reception for one of the missionaries that taught me when I was in Hawaii. There are moments in a persons life that shapes who they are and what they will be. Jace Crossley was a part of one of those moments for me, and it was such an honor to be able to see him and his new wife on his amazing day. Desi and I drove up to Idaho together, it was about a 3 hour drive or so, and when we walked into the reception and he recognized who I was, his face just lit up! We spent quite some time talking and catching up and it was so cool to me that he seemed as happy to see me as I was to see him. His new wife is just beautiful, and they make such a cute couple! Our visiting took me back to that time and place in Hawaii, and I had such a good feeling when I left. I was so happy, and it was so wonderful to have that opportunity! Here is a picture of Jace and I...


So, the other important-to-me missionary from Hawaii is getting married on the 2nd of September. I am so excited to go to his reception and see him again too! I really love those two men, and will always remember their persistence to me and my little family and their devotion to the Gospel.

Speaking of getting married...

Everybody seems to be getting married!!! My good friend Nate is engaged to an amazing woman, My roommate and VERY best friend Desi JUST got engaged, and my little brother (yes Tyler) is getting hitched too! My goodness, make it stop! hehe... Before too long I will be the only single one left! I called my friend Milan the other day and told him that he is not allowed to get married, or even think about it until I am at least engaged. I said that I WILL NOT be the last single friend in our inner circle. He just laughed at me, and said OK. Yeah right, like that's gunna stop him... There HAS to be something going around in the tap water, thank goodness I drink from bottles... :)

HAPPY DAY!

Golf

So, after the work golf tournament, Anita and I have been talking about going golfing together. We finally did it! I bought my own set of clubs, and we have plans to go golfing on our Fridays off. It is fun, great exercise, and gets me out in the sun! I love the summertime!!! So here is a picture of me showing off my new golf clubs on our first golf trip! Fancy eh?

Lagoon!

Wednesday (the 15th) was the one year anniversary of a very bad event it Desi's life. So, me, being the amazing (and humble) friend that I am, decided to take the day off of work, and take her to Lagoon so she wouldn't be alone and sad all day. :) The sacrifices I make for my friends... :) Anyway, we got there right as the park opened. Now, we were set out to have an exciting, eventful, wonderful time, so what did we do? We went back to back on the craziest rides we could find. The first one was great, I think we did the white roller coaster, then we went on Colossus, then some crazy gravity defying ride that threw us all over the place. By the time that was over and we were on the Mouse Trap, we were DONE! Our tummies were so sick we could barely stand it! That pretty much set the mood for the whole day lol. We went to get some food and water and drugs (read: Tylenol) to see it that would calm us down a bit. We spent the rest of the time walking around the park, checking out Pioneer town and looking at the rest of the rides. We did end up riding the Ferris Wheel (harmless :)) twice, and taking the little tram thing that takes you above the park to the other side. Desi and Me on the Ferris Wheel

Desi sneaking up some stairs...

Me sneaking up the same stairs...

Me and Desi on the tram thingy...

Desi relaxing on a Wagon in Pioneer town.

Me having a blatant regard for the rules... as usual...


These are the dangerous wild animals the above sign was talking about... SCARY!

Me getting ready to plow some land in Pioneer town...

We left the park early afternoon and decided to go to the mall and a movie. We ended up finding these HOTT socks for a dollar each, and decided to wear them with our flip flops to the movie. The were great conversation starters, and kept our legs warm in the cold theater hehe. We ended up seeing The Proposal, it was such a cute movie!

So, all in all the day was good, and next time we go, we will definitely NOT make a mad dash for all the crazy rides first haha, lessons learned. My stomach is not as tough as it was when I was a kid....

Vegas Baby!

So, when I lived in Hawaii, I had this amazing friend named Kelly. Kelly and I went through so much crap together. Our marriages were falling apart at the same time, and she got divorced not long after I moved back here to Utah. Out situations were very similar, and when I needed her she was there for me, and I for her. I remember taking late night drives to the beach with her, one of us always upset or torn over some crazy thing our husbands had done. We would park right by the ocean and just talk and cry for hours, trying to decide what to do about it. I am not sure what I would have done without her. Anyway, the point is, this woman is AMAZING!!! When she left Hawaii, she moved back home to Indiana. Needless to say, its kinda hard to drop by for a visit living so far apart.

Kelly had a friend that was getting married in Vegas and she and her sister came for the wedding. She invited me along, so Desi and I headed off to road trip to Vegas to see her. On the way down we stopped in St. George to see one of my best friends Melanie! We had fun swimming, and catching up. I am hoping to make a trip down to St. G just to see Melanie soon before the summer is over... Anyway, we had a blast in Vegas! Kelly was just as wonderful as ever, and it was great to meet her sister! Desi and I went to the temple there while they went to the wedding, and we just had a fun time hanging out on the strip and catching up. So... here are some pictures!!!

We stayed at the Luxor... Inside the Pyramid! It was fun! Kelly, Me, Desi and Kristin.

Me, Kelly, and Desi inside the elevator at the airport, killing time before picking up her sister Kristin.

Me and Kelly at the elevator, being silly, just like us! hehe

Me and Desi, pimping out the shades :)

Me and Desi at the LV temple. It was beautiful!

Baby Reilly

My sister came to Visit in May, and I just HAVE to showcase my favorite cutest nephew! He is the most adorable kid in the world! Tyler and I decided it is not fair to us that this kid is so cute, there is no way either of us will ever make a kid so dang adorable!!! Anyway... Here is Reilly!

Finally Updating!

OK guys, it has been a ridiculously long time since I have posted, and people keep harassing me to update. See, the reason I haven't update is because after too long, it gets to be a pile of information that needs to be posted. So after realizing that the mountain would keep growing, I have just sucked it up and done it. So, I broke it down into several smaller postings, read what you want, there are lots of pictures for those of you who would rather just look. :D I will make sure to keep up to date with it more often now. Enjoy!

~Jules

Golf Tournament

Every year, my work has a 'Spring Fling' golf tournament. People can put together teams of four and we go to an 18 hole golf course and play. I cant remember the name of it, but it was in West Valley City... Anyway, Me, Anita, Derek, and Nate from work put a team together. It was my first time playing a real 18 hole game of golf, my only other experience besides mini-golf was the Wii, lol. We went to a driving range the week before just to teach me the ropes. Anyway, we had a lot of fun, I did pretty good and my team got 12 under par! Good deal! I cannot wait to go next year! w00t!

Derek, me, Anita, and Nate

Chillin on the golf cart, I got to drive! :)

Me and Anita...

Getting ready to tee off...

My team. We did great!!!

Mothers Day Weekend

The Friday before Mothers Day, I went to a work banquet. My team won an award called The Spirit of Excellence Award, and there was a HUGE dinner at the Grand America Hotel. It was wonderful. I had a great time socializing, there was AMAZING food, great music, and I took a date with me. I RSVPd plus one. It was a great evening...


Me and Yance, my plus one. :D

For Mothers Day I went down to my Mommas house. It was the first Mothers Day I had been home since High School! It is so much fun to be able to go home for the Holidays, I sure to appreciate it now that I as gone for SO MANY! Mom and I went four wheelin on Moms Day and had a blast. I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

Mom found some wood for her yard :)

Me on this HUGE rock that got washed down and blocked the wash...

Just chillin' :D